Machu Picchu

Jess and I have just finished our Inca Trail Trek and are recuperating in our hostel. First up it was an awesome experience and I would definitely definitely do it again!

Day one in Cuzco (apparently promounced Cos-co not like in the emperors new groove), we were greeted by the Corpus Cristi festival of the Saints. It was a two-day national holiday with a parade of all the local bands and really tackily scary saint floats (by tacky I mean Jesus with blood around his neck shrouded in plastic palm trees and tinsel).

We spent the afternoon walking around the crowds familiarizing ourselves with the area and the markets.

The markets are a scary ordeal…. There are pig and cow heads just sitting on counters covered in flies. This is next to the sacrificial baby llama skeletons and various intestines.

That night Jess and I decided to have our treat meal and went out to ChiCha, a Peruvian restaurant that is owned and operated by a supposed internationally acclaimed chef. When we got there it was all booked out so we waited 15min incase the booking didn’t show up. We were in luck because they didn’t but it was a table for 6 and we were only 2 so we decided to invite the couple behind us to eat with us. I mean they could have sat at one end and awe could have sat at the other and not shared a word the whole night and it would have been fine but instead we got talking and had a lovely evening. Jess and I may have accidentally voiced how broke we were one too many times because at the end of the meal, Fred and Casey refused to let us pay! I mean we did put up a fuss especially because it was Fred’s birthday and we felt guilty as hell but hey…. Saved us about $50 so who am I to say no in the end! WOOOHOOO

The next day we did a tour around the city provided by our hostel and learnt all about different types of inca architecture and the cuisine of the locals.

We bought a plate of Chirrioochu for lunch which is inclusive of guinea pig, chicken, kelp, fish eggs, a delicious pumpkin tortilla (actually just a big fried cake thing) some local cheese, and some weird fried corn pieces.

Its safe to say that the Peruvians sure do LOVE their corn! The rest of that day we chilled out and spent packing our bags for our trek.

We woke up at 4.45am to get on a bus out to the town of Ollantaytambo where we would start our trek from. Day one of the trek was quite easy and we stumbled along at a snails pace to the checkpoints and campsites breaking every 10minutes or so.

It was ridiculously easy and slightly frustrating as we waited for some of the slower older people in the group. We met our guides Ceasar and Naomy two massive cuties! And got to know the rest of the couples (9 out of the 16 were Australian). Throughout the day, between our brief walks, we were fed breakfast, brunch, lunch, tea and dinner with 3 courses to each one (bar brunch and tea which was one course). There was sadly no hope of me loosing some of my American bulge on this trip. I almost forgot to include the little child’s farmyard party we had at one of our stops! It was so cute with puppies and kittens and baby chickens and piglets everywhere!

One thing I do have to note, and yes, I know it’s disgusting but I think its vital information regarding the true nature of our trip. Well lets not dillydally, I want to talk about toilets. HOLY BEJEEEEBUS drop toilets are scary. All they consisted of was a hole about the size of my fist and foot holes on either side. I mean that’s all very well for guys but really??? I don’t know how to aim!!! I swear I got it all over my leg at one stage (which is not good when the only pair of pants I packed were the ones I was wearing…). But the main thing was I think I conquered it by the end of the 4 days. Shouts of exaltation could be heard from the stalls once a successful (ie didn’t get all over the floor, leg, ceiling, face etc) trip was made.

Day two was supposedly the hardest day, only traveling 9km (vs 10 on the first day), however those 9km were all up hill over a 5hr period. A lot of people struggled with this but thanks to all those squats Kayla and Tina made me do in sculpt I found it quite easy and enjoyable. I was also very lucky not to suffer from altitude sickness. I suspect my giant lung capacity from swimming helped me out a little too.

Now day three was where I struggled. Day three was a 16km walk down the other side of the ‘Dead Woman’s Pass’ which was our highest point the day before at 4,200m above sea level. First things first, I HATE downhill! Earlier in the year while I was still in Minnesota, I developed this thing on my ankle which really hurt when I wore vans or sandshoes. Anyway day three aggravated it sooooo much. By the end of the day it was swollen as hell and I couldn’t walk on it. I was hobbling around like an old cripple. And it did not improve on the last day either.

The pictures of the rocks and cocoa leaves is a ceremony we did in thanks to mother earth and the mountain gods that surrounded us.

Day four was easy peasy (neurofen and strapping tape momentarily helped the ankle). We woke at 3.45 and walked up to the Sun gate above Machu Picchu to watch the sunrise through it. It was beautiful but Jess and I had no time to spare for photos. As soon as the sun was notably up, we bolted down the hill with our guide to try and get to Huayana Picchu before 8am when our timeslot to walk it closed. What takes nomal people 1hr to walk took us 20min. It was quite hilarious us running through the ruins, people calling out no doubt the Spanish version of “RUN FORREST RUN”. Well we made it in time for yet another lot of uphill (virtually vertical) stairs up Hyuana Picchu.

Once back down to Macchu Picchu we had another two hrs to explore before lunchtime. We did what we could whilst gritting out teeth against the pain of my ankle and Jess’s grandma hips. In the end we receded to lying on the grass at the top of the hill for a doze.

Oh and it turns out you can wreck doc martins.....

After we had all had enough we caught the bus back down to Agues Caliente for a group lunch and pisco sours for happy hr with Caesar (crazy crazy Peruvian man). That night we arrived back home around 11pm and just went straight to sleep. A shower could wait till the morning.

Last day was uneventful apart from various Spledour ticket buying (yep missed out again…), online class registrations, a giant lunch at Jack’s Café and a city tour by Caesar. This time he took us to his old high school and the markets where we gawked at the live frogs (which they blend up and drink with juice), cow stomachs and testicles and tongues and all sorts. You can even purchase the juice from the cow’s testicles to feed to your malnourished son to help him grow big and strong… hmmmm I think guinea pig was far enough for me.

Anyway next post will be from Argentina! Adios!

Dee

Oh and PS. It was a sad day today, I had to chuck out (to fit in my new peru rug) my beloved Met north track pants…. You served me well over those 11 years my dear friend…. <3 you will be sorely missed.